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UL's Justin Miller hit four key free throws down the stretch to help the Cajuns nail down an 86-81 win over Troy on Saturday at the Cajundome.(Photo: James Mays/Special to the Advertiser)

Justin Miller made two of those free throws after a foul call that offered some relief to Marlin’s nerves, and also gave UL a 78-76 lead in the middle of an 11-2 Cajun run.

Miller only finished with seven on 1-of-5 shooting, but four of his points were in the final 2:33.

Russell’s story was similar.

Just as Troy regained the lead with a 15-5 run midway through the second half, Russell struck with a pair of 3— one to cut Troy’s lead at 72-71 at 5:19 and another to tie it at 76-76 with 3:14 left.

Simply put, the Cajuns’ offense wasn’t at that point in early January.

“We had the same balance tonight that we’ve had the last couple of nights,” Marlin said.

Very encouraging development.

“We’re starting to trust each other more,” said JaKeenan Gant, who only needed to score 21 points on this night. “We’re getting in the flow of each other more when people are open. We’re playing through me and moving when the ball goes in the post.”

Defense was another area that showed an upgrade. Halfway through the second half, Marlin went to a zone in an effort to limit the touches of Troy’s dynamic duo of Jordon Varnado and Alex Hicks, who combined for 53 points and 25 rebounds.

Javan Johnson tried to foil the plan with a trio of 3s over the zone, but Varnado and Hicks only combined for four points in the final five minutes.

“I think it helped us,” Marlin insisted, “even though (Javan) Johnson hit three 3s, Varnado and Hicks weren’t shooting the ball every possession and that wound up playing to our advantage.”

The strategy produced the biggest stop of all at 2:54 that preceded Miller giving the Cajuns the lead back 21 seconds left at the line.